World

May 15, 2003

By Compiled from wire service reports by Robert Kilborn and Kristen Broman-Worthington

Western residents were making preparations to leave Saudi Arabia after Tuesday's terrorist bombings, although the host government vowed to make the perpetrators "sorry" for the attacks. Security checkpoints were being erected around the kingdom, and a manhunt was under way for 19 Al Qaeda suspects. Five more victims of the attacks died Wednesday, bringing the total to at least 34, Saudi authorities said. Earlier reports had put the count as high as 91.

Tearful onlookers gathered behind a security barrier as workers near the central Iraqi city of Hillah exhumed the remains of at least 3,000 people from mass graves, the largest yet found since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime. The victims, some of whom apparently were buried alive, were suspected of being local Shiite Muslims killed in reprisal for their 1991 rebellion against Hussein.

A woman exploded a powerful bomb at a crowded religious ceremony in the second major terrorist attack in Chechnya in three days. At least 30 people died and 150 others were hurt. While the service was in memory of deceased Muslim elders, reports said, the target of the attack apparently was Russia's administrator for Chechnya, who was attending. He escaped injury. Meanwhile, four more victims of Monday's truck-bomb attack in northern Chechnya died, raising the total to 59.

Intense fighting around a UN shelter for frightened refugees in eastern Congo killed at least 10 people and wounded dozens of others, and President Joseph Kabila's government made an urgent appeal for international help. The clash was a continuation of hostilities between rival Hema and Lendu tribesmen in which investigators early last month discovered mass graves containing almost 1,000 dead.

His campaign in turmoil, former Argentine President Carlos Menem was expected to tell a news conference whether he'll quit before Sunday's runoff election. Menem narrowly edged rival Nestor Kirchner in the first round of voting April 27, but he since has fallen far behind in opinion polls. Kirchner would assume the office by default if Menem withdraws.

A gas explosion ripped through a coal mine in eastern China Tuesday afternoon, killing at least 63 people. Twenty-three others were reported missing, and a local mining official said their survival prospects were "very small" since they were at least 1,600 feet underground.

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